Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Devotional Plaquette with the Annunciation
(Renaissance Europe )
Plaquettes hung above an owner's bed for devotional purposes were called "images de chevet," or bedside images. Here, Mary is interrupted at her prayers by Archangel Gabriel whose banner records his greeting "Av[e] Maria" (Hail Mary). The lilies are a traditional symbol of Mary's virginal purity.
The modeling of the faces is in the style of the later 15th century, but the drapery folds set off against the diamond pattern on the wall look back a century earlier. In addition, though much of the original paint and gilding survives, the frame was replaced in the 16th century.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2016-2017 | A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. |
Geographies
Belgium, Flanders (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H ivory: 1 3/4 × W: 1 7/16 in. (4.47 × 3.66 cm); Frame H: 3 3/8 × W: 2 3/16 × D: 3/8 in. (8.5 × 5.6 × 0.9 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.202